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Sherman Frederick | Scary thought: Obama trying to fix immigration

President Barack Obama will unilaterally fix America’s immigration mess. And if Congress doesn’t like it, then “sue me,” he says.

Nice talk from a guy whom Americans rate the worst president since World War II. (I think he’s the worst since electricity, but I quibble.)

Obama has firmly established himself in the minds of most people as the Reverse King Midas — virtually every problem he “fixes” gets worse.

Consider these examples:

— He’s the owner of the worst economic “recovery” by any measure. By the numbers, even Jimmy Carter did better.

— With an unlimited budget and a three-year window, President Obama dropped the ball on the launch of Obamacare. Even today, it is unclear who is enrolled and how sustainable the system will be.

The delays in implementing big pieces of Obamacare indicate the law remains deeply flawed.

But forget about the wisdom of the Affordable Care Act itself. The failure of this president to implement the nuts and bolts of the program should scare the beejeebers out of families hoping to find better and more affordable health care than they had before Obama took office.

— On foreign policy, America is more hated by enemies and less respected by friends than ever. The president’s Israel policy, his withdrawal from Iraq and his Vichy-esque approach to radical Islam has unleashed a terrorism threat to America of greater proportion than ever. Forces scarier than al-Qaida are carving Iraq into a state from which terrorism against the United States will be launched. Count on it.

— And let us not forget how this administration “fixed” the Department of Veterans Affairs. That was awesome, wasn’t it?

In 2009, Obama set up an incentive program that gave VA administrators bonuses if they could cut the wait time for veterans seeking medical care.

That created an incentive for bureaucrats to create faux waiting lists that made it look like wait times improved when in fact wait times got longer. Reports to the White House warned of a phony system, but the president failed to pay proper attention. He did nothing. People died, and all the while, VA administrators received bonuses … for a sham.

Even after the deception became public, a startled Obama reacted slowly. Although the head of the VA resigned belatedly, Obama expressed “regret” in his leaving. Right now, as I write this, no one has been held accountable. All those people who knowingly cheated the system — many of whom received bonuses — have yet to be brought to justice. And when I say “justice,” I mean criminal charges.

Obama touched the VA, and it became an even bigger steaming pile of bureaucracy.

It is not over. Consider the travesty in Albuquerque, N.M., on June 30. Jim N. Garcia, a 71-year-old Vietnam veteran, died in the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center. He collapsed in the hospital cafeteria, a 4-minute slow-walk through the hospital to the emergency room.

But the Albuquerque VA, following its own rules, required that the incident be called to 911. By the time the fire department arrived and an ambulance transported him 500 yards to the other end of the hospital, he died.

That’s inept government at work.

So, if the past is any clue to how Obama will “fix” illegal immigration, then stand by for millions (not thousands) of people queuing up at the border.

To make us feel good — instead of making hard decisions out of real compassion — we’ll do a “VA fix” on the border that somehow pretends we have a sense of order, but in reality only makes illegal immigration worse. President Obama will make a grand speech and follow it up with exactly nothing.

People will be ushered into the country, creating another class of out-of-sight, out-of-mind people in limbo.

It will be the worst of both worlds — neither a secure border nor a long-term dignified solution for human beings who would risk their lives and the lives of their children to live in the United States.

Remember how this King Midas in reverse “fixed” the economy … and Iraq … and affordable health care … and the VA.

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